How Jacey Duprie Started Damsel in Dior

Lifestyle

How Jacey Duprie Started Damsel in Dior

A prestigious university, impressive internships and enough extracurricular activities to make your head spin all helped pave the way for Jacey Duprie, 29, to land her dream job after college. However, when the dream job ended up not being quite so dreamy, Jacey and her stellar resume were left wondering—what’s next?

Today, Jacey is the talented blogger behind Damsel in Dior and yes, she is as much fun in real life as she appears on her blog. An LA transplant but Texas farm girl at heart, Jacey has created a blog centered around her savvy entertaining lifestyle with a genuine personality that easily comes across in her writing. With an eye for mixing high and low fashion, and an endless amount of creative content, Jacey has been able to steadily grow her readership in less than a year. As Damsel in Dior continues to expand by working with brands like Old Navy, Who What Wear, Armani Exchange and Gorjana & Griffin, Jacey manages to remain down-to-earth while enjoying a career she loves.

Read on to see how Jacey made the decision to leave her job in entertainment to transition into full-time blogging. Her story is sure to inspire and leave you feeling jazzed about turning your passions into real career possibilities.

Her Starting Point

What was your first job out of college? What were you doing before Damsel in Dior?

My first job was as a writer for StyleChicago.com. I was a Journalism major with a lot of really great experience and contacts from past internships. I landed the job through a mutual friend and did that for a few years until I moved to LA to work as an assistant at E! Entertainment.

After working at E! Entertainment, I worked for Imagine Entertainment as the second assistant for Brian Grazer, a very successful producer in television and film. Shortly into that position, I left to pursue something more fulfilling, something that I felt passionate about. It’s not in my personality to sit still, so while looking for a new job I decided to build a website that housed my resume, writing samples, etc. I spent my days learning how to build a website and it quickly became a full-time job while still looking for a full-time job. Throughout the process, I would ask my friends for feedback and as the website started to take shape, they began asking me to create websites for them. More people started coming to me by word of mouth, so I created a side business called Jolly Bulldog to help build identity brand websites.

When and why did you start Damsel in Dior? How did you learn the ins and outs of creating a blog?

I started my blog in 2009 while working at E! Entertainment with a simple WordPress template as a way to showcase what I was wearing and how I mixed high and low labels. I've always been interested in fashion, and blogging was a way to express my creative voice for a fashion audience. I never had any idea that this could become my career. I liked computers, I liked tangible things and blogging became my creative outlet for all of that. Learning the ins and outs of creating the blog has taken some time. I was completely self-taught in the beginning and had to utilize my computer knowledge to teach myself graphic design skills. Through practice, I got better at knowing how to improve my blog.

Her Big Break

Full-time blogging is a dream for many. How were you able to make that a reality?

I left Imagine because it wasn't the right fit for me—not because I knew I wanted to become a full-time blogger. My time at Imaginewas both negative and positive. Negative because I didn't enjoy what I was doing, but positive because I learned so much about self-discipline, grammar, best writing practices, time-management, patience and learning what I didn’t want to do. It was the best job in Hollywood for any aspiring producer, therefore, the fact that I wasn't enjoying my work was a huge red flag that the film industry wasn't right for me. After six months and many hard conversations with myself, I decided to leave and find something that made me happy, even if I didn’t know what that was.

Did traffic on the site grow steadily over time or was there a specific turning point when you saw exponential growth?

I didn’t really take my blog seriously until I got hired as the Fashion and Editorial Assistant at Singer22.com. This was the first time I got paid for blogging and it became part of my daily routine, however, I still had one foot in and one foot out with my own blog. My turning point happened over our honeymoon in September 2011. Prior to that, I didn’t invest a consistent amount of effort and time into my blog, but I decided to make it a priority when I returned. I came up with a business plan, hired a professional web designer, went to conferences that I found via Google or friends, attended a Photoshop editing class and enrolled in more than 30 hours of computer education at a local computer training center. I invested in a high-quality digital camera and implemented tips from the conferences, such as setting an editorial calendar and working on collaborations. After I took the time to really create a plan for what I wanted to do with my blog, it started to take off.

When did you begin looking at your blog as a business? What investments did you make to go from hobby to business?

I definitely looked at my blog like a business after I invested my time and resources, but my first major sign that I was on the right track came with my Levi’s collaboration. Before my first collaboration, I didn’t really understand the idea or the impact they could make. After my blog redesign, I found out that a friend of mine, who worked for Pop Sugar, Inc., was looking for a blogger to shoot the Levi’s collaboration. I followed up with her, pitched my blog and the rest is history. I also learned a lot of the ins and outs of treating a blog like a business when I attended the Alt Summit and, between the two events, I felt really confident with the business direction of my blog.

When you blog, do you typically have ideas in mind in advance or do you sit down and search for content?

Both. Sometimes an idea just comes to me and other times I rely on my editorial calendar to guide me. Another benefit of the editorial calendar is that it lets readers know what to expect, which at first I didn’t think would go over well with readers, but consistency has helped increase my blog’s traffic. Overall I find inspiration from Pinterest, collaborations, magazines, shopping and just getting out and about with friends and family.

How did you go about finding sponsors and securing partnerships with brands like Ann Taylor and Levi’s?

I would say 90% to 95% of my collaborations, partnerships, advertisers, etc., have come through networking. I very rarely send cold emails unless I’m just head over heels in love with the brand. For example, Ann Taylor reached out because I created a collaboration called “1 Blogger, 5 Ways,” and one of the ladies on that project had a contact at Ann Taylor.

Networking is so important! I started expanding my network by reaching out to friends and letting them know I wanted to join them at events while also scouting events and conferences to attend on my own. I also make sure to follow-up with the contacts I make via an email or a coffee date. I’m always hitting the networking ground.

What’s the most challenging part of being a professional blogger?

#1. Knowing when to turn it off. I am always, always glued to my computer, phone, camera or some sort of technology and sometimes it's hard to walk away. Unlike other jobs, I don't really get vacations or holidays because I have to document my life because my blog is my life. I can't really complain though because that is how I built it and I wouldn't change it for the world.

#2. The misconception that all bloggers are the same and that it's easy. If it were easy then everyone would do it. Sometimes it feels like everyone does have a blog but in order to make yours stand out, it takes a lot of hard work. The average American probably reads two to four blogs per day and out of the twelve million blogs that are available, what sets Damsel in Dior apart? That is the biggest challenge I face.

If we had the chance to peek at your schedule, what would an average day look like?

Every week is a little different but Sunday and Monday are usually my longest days because I focus on getting my blog schedule for the week prepared. A typical day looks like this:

9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.: Focus on live post of the day and push it through all social media channels. Catch up on emails, go over calendar for the day/week and solidify any meetings or calls I have. Oh, and feed the dogs!

11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.: Take a coffee meeting with a publicist or visit a showroom to pull outfits. Run errands such as shipping, taking photos for the blog, conference calls and reaching out to brands/bloggers for collaborations. Basically, I do my best to get out of the office at least once a day otherwise I'll bury myself in my computer.

2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.: Finalize blog posts for the next day (or two). Transfer and edit images through Photoshop, research product and prep blog post for the following day. Some days I meet with my videographer during this window to shoot fun video content for the blog too.

4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.: Complete guest posts for various other blogs I write for.

6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.: Attend an event, meet up with friends or enjoy dinner with my husband and pups.

Sleep. Repeat. Have Fun.

Her Perspective

What type of marketing do you use to build your brand?

Everyone says it because it's true: with blogging it’s important to have original content, stay true to your voice and try not to mimic what other people are doing. Collaborations are key to success and you have to invest in your business. Pinterest is my number one traffic referrer, followed by Twitter and Facebook.

My techniques vary between all outlets. I try to leave my Twitter open-ended so people will want to click the link in order to learn more. With Facebook, I like to leave teaser introductions to my posts. I also just started working with a bunch of social media apps that work with bloggers such as Vine, Pose and GoTryItOn to broaden my brand and marketing outlets.

Combining your passions and career is tough. What advice would you give women trying to figure this out?

It took figuring out a lot of things I wasn't passionate about to figure out what I was passionate about. I really thought I wanted to work in journalism, TV reporting, producing, etc., but after each opportunity I knew I still hadn’t found the right career.

Even though none of those outlets turned out to be right for me, I think it is just as important to keep trucking along and really explore every avenue that you might be interested in. I never imagined I could create my own career in fashion by way of blogging and graphics, but I love it!

What advice would you give to women wanting to make a business out of their blogs?

Really dedicate the time and resources to improving your craft. For example, my blog is very graphics heavy so I taught myself how to make better graphics. Invest in yourself and take the classes you need, get out there and network and treat your blog like a business.